Arrow: "Trust But Verify" Review

Ollie and Diggle square off with the Blackhawks.

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January 24, 2013

Warning: full episode spoilers follow.

Arrow picked up the slack in a big way with this week's installment, which easily ranked as one of the best in the series' short lifespan so far. "Trust But Verify" was a consistently executed episode that forced nearly all the main characters to deal with the disparity between how they wish to perceive those close to them and how those loved ones actually are. Only the presence of another underdeveloped villain kept this episode from fully realizing its potential.

This week, it was Ted Gaynor and the Blackhawks' turn to make their Arrow debut. In the comics, Gaynor and the other Blackhawks are a group of elite, international fighter pilots. The most recent incarnation of the series cast them as essentially the G.I. Joe unit of the DC Universe. As per usual, the source material was toned down considerably in the process of being adapted for the show, and the Blackhawks became just your average private security firm that robs armored vehicles on the side. As mentioned, I had a real problem with the lack of motivation given to Gaynor and his men. If you're going to recast a normally heroic band of soldiers as villains, you should really have a good reason for doing so. This episode never revealed why exactly Gaynor and his men were knocking over armored trucks, other than vague references to Gaynor's disillusionment and a love of money. Like Deadshot and the Royal Flush Gang, this particular DC element felt wasted.

But in terms of fostering drama between Ollie and Diggle, these villains more than did their part. I'v been looking forward to this episode ever since Gaynor's role and connection to Diggle was announced. Our two heroes had a real wedge driven between them as Ollie's pragmatism clashed with Diggle's optimism And it was a rift that wasn't completely healed by episode's end. One of my favorite moments came when Diggle hesitated to pull the trigger on his former C.O. and Ollie finished the job for him. Ollie is clearly willing to take measures Diggle won't, and that will almost certainly continue to color their relationship moving forward.

The writers found ways to integrate other cast members into the "Trust But Verify" theme. For Moira and Thea, it was the latter's suspicions of her mother having an affair with Malcolm Merlyn. One can't help but feel for Moira at this point, given the impossible situation she finds herself in. But by the same token, Thea is quickly growing more compelling as she processes a whirlwind of emotions in typically self-destructive fashion. Speaking of which, I enjoyed the tease for next week's episode as Thea experimented with the Vertigo drug. Given that she celebrated her 18th birthday in this episode, she may be facing some real legal trouble in the near future. How long until she hits rock bottom and finds redemption through shooting bad guys with arrows?

Similarly, Tommy dealt with his own parental struggles as what seemed to be an innocent night of bonding with Malcolm turned into one more bout of psychological trauma. Viewers shouldn't really need more help sympathizing with Tommy at this point, as he's become perhaps the most genuine and likable character on the show next to Diggle. But despite his manipulative ploy, Malcolm actually received a bit of humanizing treatment himself. The references to the death of Mrs. Merlyn shed more light on the troubled Merlyn family dynamic and why it is that Malcolm is so hellbent on remaking the city at the expense of so many others. One thing that has always been true about superhero comics is that the best villains are the ones who don't actually see themselves as evil, but merely fight for what they believe is just. At the end of the day, Malcolm merely wants revenge for the murder of his wife and to remake the city into a place where such a tragedy can never happen again. Misguided and arrogant, but understandable.

Finally, "Trust But Verify" offered a few more flashback scenes of the island as Ollie struggled in vain to liberate Yao Fei. For most of the episode these scenes didn't seem to have any real thematic connection to the rest of the plot. But that final reveal was a doozy, as now viewers must question whether Ollie can trust his one ally on the island. It looks grim, but would Ollie's captors really have sprung such an elaborate ruse on him just to recapture him?

This episode had plenty going for it, and only one real notable instance of lame dialogue (Diggle's "Your convincing needs more convincing,"). The end result was a marked improvement over last week. Even so, it's troubling to see so many DC characters used as disposable, underdeveloped villains. Recent casting announcements prove that the trickle of familiar faces won't be slowing down anytime soon. The writers really need to focus on putting these guest characters to better use.